Jonathan Liew on a England's new star
Zak speaks!
On that happy note - and it really was the most charming interview - I’ll say goodnight. Bye!
“There’s so many people [to thank]. My parents are right at the top of my list, I couldn’t have done it without them. I’ll make sure I give them a phone call tonight! And obviously Keysie!
“[What will happen next on this pitch?] I’m a poor pitch reader so we’ll se how it goes. I think the pitch will get lower and slower and you might get people caught on the crease. It’ll turn a little but I’m not sure it’ll be a ragger.”
“I feel comfortable batting outside my crease to Mohammad Abbas. I try and work on it in the nets, especially walking at him. I feel like I can take LBW and bowled out of the game if I do that. He can still nick me off; he’s a fine bowler and he beat the bat plenty today. Mohammad Rizwan came up to the stumps a couple of times but I thought he’d do it more often. I was surprised because I was definitely harder when I was in the crease.”
“I had individual plans for each bowler. Luckily I got a few balls to hit – it might have seemed like I had a bit of intent but it was just the way the balls fell. Yasir was challenging because he gets quite low bounce and he bowls this ball that does you – you think it’s short and it’s not. I had a much clearer game plan against him after the second Test so that innings was definitely beneficial.
“The toughest thing was trying to keep a hundred out of my head! When I was on about 25 I felt in decent touch and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Luckily when I got to about 70 I calmed down a bit.”
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“Yeah, it felt pretty good to be honest. Best feeling I’ve had on a cricket field by quite a way. It was a great day, and Jos batted really well and made it easy for me. [Have you turned your phone on?] I haven’t seen it yet, I left it in my room this morning. I’m looking forward to opening it up and seeing the messages – there’ll be a few old faces I reckon!
“It was an unbelievable feeling to reach a hundred. My whole career so far almost flashed before my eyes. Hopefully I can get a few more. I got to about 91 and I was very nervous – Jos didn’t think I was so I must have hidden it well.”
Actually, hang on, Zak Crawley is being interviewed!
That’s it for today’s blog. Thanks for your company, emails and Shakespeare corrections; I’ll leave you with Vic’s match report. And if you have Sky Sports, don’t forget to watch Adam on the Debate at 7.15pm. Goodnight!
A word, too, for Jos Buttler, who batted like a lord to make 87 not out. This summer he has unwittingly become a divisive figure; now we can move on to arguing over some other poor bloke.
Stumps
The England balcony are all on their feet to applaud Crawley, their smiles full of the kind of warmth you can’t fake. Eight hours ago he was a stand-in for Ben Stokes; now, after a wonderful 171 not out, he is England’s No3 for the forseeable future. His innings was so classy and accomplished that it’s almost hard to believe he’s a 22-year-old making his first Test hundred. Spoiler: it’s not his last.
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90th over: England 332-4 (Crawley 171, Buttler 87) Buttler times Naseem through point for four to bring up a seriously good 200 partnership with Crawley. There aren’t many crap 200 partnerships, I realise, but this one has been brimming with skill, intelligence, authority and purpose. Even in the last over of the day, Buttler is looking for runs - he follows that boundary with a clip through midwicket for three more. I don’t think Buttler has ever played better than this in Test cricket. Zak Crawley certainly hasn’t.
89th over: England 325-4 (Crawley 171, Buttler 80) Mohammad Abbas beats Crawley with a fantastic legcutter, bowled from wider on the crease. Crawley smiles, as he has for most of the day.
88th over: England 322-4 (Crawley 171, Buttler 77) Naseem continues to Crawley, who will sleep well tonight whatever happens in the next 15 minutes. He drives crisply back at Naseem, who collects the ball on the bounces and shapes as if to throw at the stumps. Good lad.
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87th over: England 322-4 (Crawley 171, Buttler 77) Mohammad Abbas changes ends to replace Afridi, who bowled three shoddy overs with the second new ball. Buttler edges a good delivery short of first slip and is then beaten by another delicious straightener. Okay, a delivery that straightens from leg to off. Either way, it was quite brilliant bowling.
“In the current climate in which everyone’s having a shocker of a summer, I feel duty bound to put a word in to defend Burns,” says Harry Lang. “I know journos need something to write and kicking players when they have a poor run is as common in Fleet Street as phone-hacking and an 11am sharpener, but I wish they’d hold back on lambasting the team, younger players especially.
“Opening in a Test is a confidence game to a great extent, so column inches suggesting his potential replacements (as seems to happen to every English batsman that goes through a slow patch e.g. the one-man whacking machine that is Jos Buttler) seems a little cruel. Imagine if we, the readers, reviewed journalist performance with the same bloodthirsty vigour? The sports pages would be written by algorithms and bots by the end of the year...”
Well, that sort of happens with BTL comments, which is why so many sports writers are nowhere near as good/confident as they were a decade ago (I include myself in this; I’m not just flinging bitter Friday evening haymakers at my superiors). You’d think this would make writers less inclined to put the boot in, though if anything it has made it more common.
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86th over: England 322-4 (Crawley 171, Buttler 77) Crawley has scored 74 from 88 balls since tea, yet he has barely played a risky stroke. He has an impressive ability to change his tempo depending on the bowling and match situation. He has one new challenge to deal with because Naseem Shah is back in the attack. He starts with a probing maiden to Crawley, who defends when necessary and leaves everything else. It’s already digital chip paper, but that was a really good over.
“Now Rob,” says Phil Sawyer, “you know what happens when you start talking about Daddy Don’t make us call the emergency services. Again.”
You won’t be surprised to hear I got a rare old brollocking for that. On reflection, they might have had a point.
85th over: England 322-4 (Crawley 171, Buttler 77) Afridi’s immature new-ball spell continues with an errant delivery to Buttler that zips away for four leg-byes. Then Buttler drags a drive past mid-off for four more. I’m so chuffed for Buttler, who had been through all sorts this summer and is now batting like the genius he is. It might not last, I wouldn’t put money on it, but right now he is in a very good place.
“Hi Rob,” says Jon Millard. “Speaking of Statsguru as a frustrated opening batsman (meaning, one never, ever allowed to open the batting), I’ve always been fascinated by bat carrying. I’ve been trying to use Statsguru to find out the most frequent bat carrier - however, I am foundering on filtering out declared innings and successful chases. I know this a bit ‘let me Google that for you’, but can anyone either tell me who it is, or at least which filter to use? Probably only to find out it’s Boycott, I guess.”
Two men have done it three times in Tests: Desmond Haynes and Dean Elgar. One of Haynes’ three was in that wonderful Test at the Oval in 1991, when he carried his bat by virtue of being the only batsman not intent on belting Phil Tufnell into Woolworths on Lambeth Palace Road.
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84th over: England 313-4 (Crawley 170, Buttler 73) “Up late in Seoul very much enjoying this Test,” says Marcus Shaffer. “I’m no expert, but I would guess that the opener also has to deal with the anticipation imparted on the start of play by the crowd? The first action of any live event is really amped up. As play goes on the ball changes, the pitch changes, the weather changes, the crowd settles in. But openers have to absorb the starting energy of the crowd, satisfy it, and move it on... that is a skill that would be hard to teach.”
I’d never really thought of that but it’s an interesting point. I wonder if it’s an even greater pressure in white-ball cricket, where you are expected to attack from the off, and therefore something you have to embrace. Most of the world’s best white-ball openers are not entirely without ego.
83rd over: England 312-4 (Crawley 169, Buttler 73) Crawley famously improved his highest score in each of his first five Tests, but I’m afraid that particular game is up for a while: he’s 169 not out. That’s his best score in first-class cricket, never mind Tests.
Buttler survives an LBW appeal after being hit on the pad by a decent inswinger from Afridi. It was slipping past leg stump. When Michael Gough says not out, only a fool reviews. Afridi is searching too hard for wickets, an understandable mistake in the circumstances, and later in the over he spears a very wide half-volley that Buttler pings over backward point for four.
82nd over: England 307-4 (Crawley 168, Buttler 69) Mohammad Abbas’s first delivery with the second new ball is a jaffa that nips away to thump Buttler in a painful place. Never mind a loosener, that almoist loosened Buttle- [that’ll do - ed]. Crawley purses his lips at the non-striker’s end, possibly while vowing to ignore any requests for a quick single in the next few minutes. A superb over from Abbas ends with with another wobbler that beats the outside edge as Buttler gropes defensively.
“Bill Griffiths said that if you hit a car it’s a four in Corfu,” says Jim Hornby. “I don’t suppose that is a Carrefour car park?”
It is now!
81st over: England 305-4 (Crawley 168, Buttler 67) Shaheen Afridi’s first delivery with the second new ball is also the first no-ball of the day. He celebrates with another two balls later, and another straight after that. A slightly farcical over continues with Crawley clipping a legitimate delivery for four, aided by a weary excuse for fielding from Yasir Shah at square leg.
80th over: England 288-4 (Crawley 160, Buttler 65) Fawad Alam bowls the final over with the old ball. Crawley grabs the last sausage roll at the buffet, sweeping firmly round the corner for four, only to ruin a serviceable analogy when he is dropped by Fawad. It was a devilishly tough chance, on the half volley at ankle height off his own bowling, and it went through him. I think it carried to Fawad.
Right, it’s time for the second new ball.
79th over: England 280-4 (Crawley 153, Buttler 64) Since you asked, the last England batsman to turn a maiden Test hundred into a double was, yep, Robert William Trevor Key in 2004.
78th over: England 275-4 (Crawley 152, Buttler 60) “As a Yank who has played in all of one cricket match for my daughter’s school dads PTA, a T20 match in which I had to bowl (aka chucking) two hilarious overs, and who has yet to grace the pages of Wisden, I of course have an opinion about England’s openers,” says Naresh Giangrande. “It seems to me that opening in a Test match is a very particular skill that simply isn’t taught. Why not? Why stick two poor souls into the position and let them get on with it?”
I wouldn’t say it isn’t taught, though it certainly isn’t fashionable. Also, an important part of it, temperament, is something you’re generally born width. England’s current openers both have rock-solid temperaments and imperfect techniques; it’ll be interesting to see which wins over the next couple of years.
77th over: England 271-4 (Crawley 150, Buttler 58) A thumping sweep for four off Yasir takes Crawley to 149, and he dabs a single to reach another milestone on a life-changing day: 150 not out from 233 balls. It’s been a marvellous innings!
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76th over: England 263-4 (Crawley 145, Buttler 55) A quiet over.
“Have played at the cricket ground in Corfu Town on a cricket ‘tour’,” says Bill Griffiths. “If you hit a car it’s a four. For some reason there were always far fewer cars in the car park when the home side were batting.”
75th over: England 261-4 (Crawley 144, Buttler 54) Yasir continues after drinks. This is his 26th over, which is a lot for a spinner on the first day. A quiet over, genuinely; two singles from it.
74th over: England 259-4 (Crawley 143, Buttler 53) Fawad Alam comes back to bowl his roundarm SLA. Pakistan just want the second new ball now, they’ve had their fill of the first one. Crawley reverse laps a couple to move to within seven of a maiden daddy. I’d like to apologise for that sentence. That’s drinks.
“Since Buttler is often held hostage by statisticians,” says Ian Forth, “allow me to point out that since Headingley last year his home Test average is currently 53.3. More than Gilchrist.”
That’s admirable stat-cheating. In the same way that bookmakers offer a boost button to make the odds better, Statsguru should have an option to apply as many irrelevant filters as it takes to make your man looked good. Or vice-versa is you want to point out that Sir Donald Bradman averaged a pitiful 33.87 when Australia fielded first and lost.
73rd over: England 253-4 (Crawley 138, Buttler 52) Yasir goes around the wicket to Crawley, who unfurls a jaunty reverse sweep for four. He repeats the stroke next ball, this time for a single. As Ian Ward says on Sky, he is clearly a very smart cricketer. Things change so quickly in Test cricket - less than a month ago, Rory Burns was an in-form banker - but right here, right now, a middle order (Nos 3-7) of Crawley, Root, Stokes, Pope and Buttler looks so exciting.
“I’m not sure Vince really belongs in that list of No3s,” says Tom Booth. “There’s only so far you can get relying entirely on the off-drive. But I’ll come out swinging in the name of Ravi Bopara.”
Was Bopara ever a No3 at Test level? I know he got those hundreds v West Indies but he always felt like a No5/6. Vince is probably the same actually, though I think we underestimate how well he played at times in Australia in 2017-18.
72nd over: England 244-4 (Crawley 131, Buttler 50) Crawley belts a full ball from Afridi through the covers for the 15th four of a quite marvellous innings. Afridi goes round the wicket after that and almost dupes Buttler with a clever slower ball. Buttler leant into the drive and inside-edged it back onto his pads; it could easily have violated his furniture.
“Hi Rob,” says Bertie Heaver. “I’m following from Corfu which also turns out to be the home of Greek cricket. I can’t imagine Root or Kohli playing on an astro surrounded by a carpark only 30 metres away. The pavilion, however, could be the lovely Liston. A French building full of plenty of places for lunch and tea...”
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71st over: England 239-4 (Crawley 126, Buttler 50) Buttler waves Yasir for two to reach a majestic half-century from 85 balls, with six fours and two sixes. He must be so frustrated that this is the last Test of the summer, because he has waited 18 months to feel like this in the middle.
70th over: England 236-4 (Crawley 125, Buttler 48) A quiet spell in the game, which is liveblog code for ‘I’ve been lost in my inbox for the last five minutes and haven’t seen a ball’. Buttler threads another excellent cover drive for four, this time off the returning Afridi, to move to 48. His placement has been immaculate today. It’s probably old age but I can’t remember him playing a more confident, authoritative Test innings. It’ll count for nowt if he doesn’t make a big score.
“Hi Rob,” says James Burgess. “Is the Mark Lathwell in the 64th over the one who played two Tests in the 1993 Ashes?”
No, that was Mark Lathwall.
69th over: England 232-4 (Crawley 125, Buttler 44) “I really don’t see Burns as being ‘in poor form’ as has so often been stated,” says David Keech. “Let’s look at some cricketing realities. All pitches this year have been bowler friendly and both W. Indies and especially Pakistan have some high quality bowlers. Facing fresh bowlers with a new ball in helpful conditions, you expect wickets to fall. It’s just been Burns’ bad luck that he’s received the good ones. Wait until he bats on a few more batsman friendly pitches before passing terminal judgment please.”
We’ll be waiting a while. I think we need to revise our expectations of batsmen, certainly in England, given the quality of bowling attacks and the change in pitches over the last few years. I haven’t crunched the numbers, so you could legitimately argue I’m pulling this straight from my hind, but I reckon an average of 40 in the last two years is worth at least 45 and maybe 50 in the early/mid-2010s.
68th over: England 231-4 (Crawley 125, Buttler 43) “Quite astonishing that in 40 years, only three men have played 50 innings at number 3 and averaged above 40 for England (Hussain, Gower and Trott),” says Mike Jakeman. “Mind you, Australia have only had the same number over the same period, but that’s because they had Ponting (200 innings at 56) and Boon (111 at 45) immediately before him. Clearly such a rare set of skills. Or rather, so many skills required.”
I was surprised Butcher’s average wasn’t higher, though I’d forgotten a few ducks early in his career (“It’s not much easier at No3, is it Butch?). If you take it from his recall in 2001 he averages 42.32 in 69 innings, which is very good in that position, especially in that era. You can make a case for a few lost No3s down the years: Hick, Smith, Ramps, even James Vince.
67th over: England 229-4 (Crawley 123, Buttler 43) Buttler jumps into one-day mode, running down the track to blast Yasir back over his head for two sixes in three balls. The second went many a mile. He makes it 16 from the over with a gorgeous cover drive for four.
66th over: England 213-4 (Crawley 123, Buttler 27) Mohammad Abbas returns in place of Nassem Shah, and Crawley moves back to thump him through cover point for four more. Since you asked, you cussing cursers, the last England batsman to turn a maiden Test hundred into a daddy (150+) was Jonny Bairstow on a surreal, emotional day in Cape Town almost five years ago. Before that it was Stuart Broad during a surreal, emotional Test at Lord’s in 2010.
65th over: England 208-4 (Crawley 119, Buttler 26) Crawley survives an LBW appeal after again missing a sweep at Yasir. It was missing leg. The sweep stroke has been Crawley’s main/sole weakness today.
“You mentioned Root would be loving this Crawley innings as it means he might not bat at No3 again,” says Luke Stevenson. “This being England, how likely is it if Burns’ poor form continues he’s dropped, Crawley then opens and Root bats No3, making nobody happy.”
If that happens – and it’s still a fair way away – I think they’ll look for another opener rather than move Crawley. A good No3 is pure gold, and England might have found one. Things should only get complicated if Stokes returns and is unable to bowl.
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64th over: England 206-4 (Crawley 118, Buttler 25) Crawley pulls Naseem round the corner for four, despite the presence of three men out for the top-edged stroke. Naseem maintains his jaffa quotient later in the over with a beauty that zips away to beat Buttler.
“On the subject of getting Shakespeare wrong ...” says Mark Lathwall. “Regarding your emendation of manner to manor when publishing my email: the former is the line from Hamlet, and the correct idiom. The latter is a pun on the phrase that was the title of a 70s TV show.”
Well that’s my university application buggered.
63rd over: England 201-4 (Crawley 113, Buttler 25) Yasir Shah replaces Mohammad Abbas, who has tidy if unusually harmless figures of 15-2-39-0. Crawley misses an attempted sweep outside leg stump, and then Buttler leaves a ball that barely misses the off stump. I think that was brilliant judgement.
“Hey Rob,” says Iuasr. “Much has been made of Pakistan’s attack. They’ve relied on a 17-year-old who shouldn’t be playing his third consecutive Test within a month, regardless of overs bowled. It’s been much of a muchness from Pakistan really and the England batsmen have certainly become accustomed to them now. In short, the Pakistani bowlers are akin to Newcastle’s ‘famous no 9’. Regardless of how good they might actually be, they’ll be talked about in glowing terms. That’s all for my random diatribe today.”
That’s a brilliant and vaguely hilarious comparison. Who’s Andy Carroll?
62nd over: England 200-4 (Crawley 112, Buttler 25) Crawley misses an attempted pull at a 90mph bumper from Naseem. The field is set for short-pitched bowling, with three out onthe leg side, and later in the over Crawley pulls a single to bring up the 200. England are in an excellent position on a pitch that should make Dom Bess very happy over the next few days.
“Zak Crawley,” muses Digvijay Yadav. “Marnus Labuschagne. The reason we have selectors.”
I know what you mean, though I can think of maybe one or two thousand counter-arguments from the last 30-odd years.
61st over: England 198-4 (Crawley 111, Buttler 24) “The point I was trying to get across was that it wasn’t as if Arthur Richter played a load of first-class games with a terminal renal disease, he played a single game,” says Richard O’Hagan. “He actually died about six months after the season ended and eight after his solitary appearance. There’s a reference in The Australian to him playing ‘the season’ which is misleading as it suggests more of a career than he had. He was 27 when he made his debut, which was late even for the 1930s. It is a sad story, but the facts make it a bit more bathetic than it appears on the surface.”
Fair points. I can see both sides of something like this, especially as our ideas of courage and the like have changed so much. I still think it’s pretty brave to be part of a first-class team when you know you’re terminally ill, although he loses some goodwill for blatantly courting publicity in an internet forum 84 years later.
60th over: England 196-4 (Crawley 108, Buttler 24) Crawley clips Naseem crisply through square leg for four, another excellent stroke, and adds three more with a forcing shot off the back foot. Joe Root will be loving this Crawley innings. Sod the team situation, at this rate he may never have to bat No3 again.
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59th over: England 191-4 (Crawley 104, Buttler 24) Crawley punches Abbas confidently down the ground for three. He has batted outside his crease to Abbas for most of the day, the effectiveness of which is shown by a brilliant graphic on Sky. In Tests in England, those who have played Abbas from in or around the crease average 9.41, whereas those who go a long way down the track average 80.00.
“Crawley passes the eye test and then some,” says Mark Lathwall, and yes I did a double take at the name as well. “He and Pope look to the manor born. Both have that natural assurance that not many possess. It’s also a good, progressive bit of selection given his county record, so credit where it’s due to Smith & co.”
That’s a good point. Ed Smith has had a lot of criticism, not all of it justified, so he deserves a lot of credit for putting Crawley in the squad aged 21 and with a modest first-class average.
58th over: England 188-4 (Crawley 101, Buttler 24) It’s a double bowling change after tea, with Naseem Shah replacing Yasir Shah. He starts with a maiden to Buttler.
“I almost went to university at Kent,” says Ian Copestake, “but during the interview I couldn’t remember the name of the Shakespeare play we had done for A-level.”
You said the Canterbury Tales, didn’t you.
ZAK CRAWLEY MAKES A BRILLIANT MAIDEN HUNDRED!!
57th over: England 188-4 (Crawley 101, Buttler 24) Crawley walks down the track to work Abbas round the corner for two. That takes him to 99. Ninety-nine. Ninety-nine. Ninety-nine.
He ignores the next two deliveries, deliberately tossed wider by Abbas. One ball left in the over - and he cracks it through point for two to reach his first Test century. What a delightful innings: 171 balls, 11 fours and oodles of class.
He’s the 171st man to make a Test hundred for England, and I want the other 170 in my inbox by 4.15pm or it’s over between us.
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Attencion! The players are back on the field, Mohammad Abbas is back into the attack. AND ZAK CRAWLEY IS ON 97.
“The information on Arthur Richter is slightly misleading,” says Richard O’Hagan. “He played one first-class game, scored seven and failed to take a wicket whilst conceding 73 runs. Hardly earthshattering.”
Wasn’t the point that he played that game while knowing he was going to die very soon?
Tea
56th over: England 184-4 (Crawley 97, Buttler 24) A lovely, mischievous bit of captaincy from Azhar Ali, who brings Yasir Shah back to bowl the last over before tea with Crawley on strike and needing four for a first Test hundred. He loses a point for pushing mid-off back, though. Crawley settles for bashing a single to deep mid-off, which means he will resume after tea on 97 not out.
That was another fine session of cricket: 93 runs and two wickets from 28 overs. The two wickets came from brilliant bowling: Naseem Shah produced another of his unplayables to see off Joe Root for 29, and Ollie Pope was again hoodwinked by Yasir Shah’s flipper. See you in 15 minutes to see whether Zak Crawley can end 16 years of hurt for Kent CCC.
55th over: England 183-4 (Crawley 96, Buttler 24) Fawad Alam continues to Buttler, who steers him past slip for a single. That brings Crawley on strike with four balls of the over remaining. He must be so tempted to try to reach a maiden Test hundred in the grand manner, but for now the cooler part of his head prevails: he drives the next delivery for a low-risk single.
54th over: England 181-4 (Crawley 95, Buttler 23) Crawley swivel-pulls Shaheen sweetly for four to move to 95. That was a much safer shot than the earlier one because of the line (middle and leg rather than outside off) and length (breast rather than shoulder height). Crawley needs five runs for his hundred; there are five minutes until tea.
“You are so right about Zak Crawley,” says Peter Rowntree. “What a great young cricketer he is. His technique is beyond question. But what I like about him, above everything else, is that even when England are in a spot of bother he is still looking to score runs, and to try and ensure that the opposition bowlers don’t dominate.”
Agreed, and equally he can go back down the gears when necessary, as he has this afternoon. That’s perfect for a No3. His game is almost custom-made to score runs in Australia, and there’s no obvious reason why he shouldn’t do well on the subcontinent. I think he’s a helluva find.
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53rd over: England 173-4 (Crawley 90, Buttler 20) With tea imminent, Fawad Alam comes on to bowl some left-arm filth. His first-class record isn’t terrible, actually, with 40 wickets at 42 apiece, and he’s taken 13 wickets in white-ball internationals.
He almost grabs a Test wicket, too, when Crawley shapes to sweep, changes his mind and works the ball off his toe for a single. Actually, I wonder if that hit his toe a split-second before the bat. Had it done so it would have been a great shout for LBW. There was no appeal, though, and the resulting single takes Crawley into the nineties.
52nd over: England 168-4 (Crawley 87, Buttler 20) Buttler draws his bat away from a Shaheen delivery at the last minute, and Pakistan go up for caught behind. It all looked pretty harmless - but they are going to review. As you were: replays show daylight between bat and ball. That was strange because both the bowler and the keeper thought they heard something. Nobody else did.
“Re: Mr. Starbuck’s comment about the Root - Buttler axis (over 47),” begins Bill Hargreaves, “I wonder if Buttler ever has to warn him of his problems with authority.”
The genuine state of him, with his feet on the table - crossed - and the definition of an affronted coupon.
NB: clip contains adult language. A heap of it, in fact.
51st over: England 165-4 (Crawley 85, Buttler 20) Buttler skids back in his crease to punch Yasir through the covers for four. That’s a stunning stroke. It’s no guaratnee of anything, but I can’t remember the last time Buttler looked this dominant when batting in whites. Even when he had that great spell in 2018, he wasn’t as intimidating as this.
“If the name of Richter is going spare (34th over), then cricket should adopt it in memory of Arthur of that ilk,” says Adrian Armstrong. “Not long after his namesake Charles first published his scale, Arthur played for the South Australia team that won the 1935-36 Sheffield Shield. While knowing that he had a terminal kidney condition, which killed him shortly afterwards, a couple of weeks shy of his 28th birthday. Apparently his winner’s medal is kept in the Sheffield Shield Room at the Adelaide Oval.”
50th over: England 161-4 (Crawley 85, Buttler 16) Crawley gets away with a loose stroke, a top-edged pull off Shaheen that looped between the men at mid-on and midwicket. He smiles and practises an alternative shot, an uppercut over the slips. As Mike Atherton says on Sky, the pull is risky because of Shaheen’s angle across the right-hander.
49th over: England 159-4 (Crawley 83, Buttler 16) Crawley crashes Yahir wide of midwicket for four. It was in the air and tempted the fielder, but the placement was good. Shaheen skidded awkwardly while trying to save the boundary, the kind of incident that gives us all Gabba flashbacks. In this case, thankfully, he’s fine.
Crawley sweeps a single to move within 17 of a century, and then Buttler clouts the ball through extra cover for four. He looks in superb touch. Nobody will remember that if he gets out for 40, though. It’s an obvious thing to say, but you have to make form count. Some are better at doing so than others.
48th over: England 150-4 (Crawley 78, Buttler 12) A maiden from Shaheen to Buttler.
“Your mental image of your 2004 office really resonated with me, Rob,” says Ian Forth. “We spend so much of our life there but so rarely capture the moment. I have any number of photos of almost identical looking beaches, clifftops and sunsets but would really relish a handful of shots of everyday life in the office and some of my great colleagues from the past.”
Tbf, I didn’t say they were great colleagues.
47th over: England 150-4 (Crawley 78, Buttler 12) Yasir is in his element here, setting booby traps and fake traps for the batsmen. He almost skids one through Crawley, who gets a very late inside edge on the back foot. The umpires meet to discuss whether the ball went straight onto the boot before being caught by Rizwan, and send it upstairs to be on the safe side. Replays show it went straight into the ground.
“Hello again,” says John Starbuck. “Continuing the Buttler discussion: he’ll stay in the team, though not necessarily as principal wicketkeeper, for as long as Root want to rely on his advice and counsel, especially with Ben Stokes away.”
That’s an excellent point. Buttler would have played the last two Tests anyway after that masterpiece at Old Trafford, but in Stokes’s absence he becomes an essential consigliere.
46th over: England 150-4 (Crawley 78, Buttler 12) Shaheen replaces Mohammad Abbas at the whatever end this is. Crawley plays a confident back-foot drive for three, taking him past his previous highest score of 76. It’s one thing to find a high-class young batsman, quite another to discover one who can bat in the pivotal position of No3. It’s hard not to be excited about what Crawley might achieve in the next 10-15 years.
45th over: England 147-4 (Crawley 75, Buttler 12) “Top of the afternoon Rob,” says Alex Bramble. “I scoffed indignantly reading that of active ‘keepers only BJ Watling is averaging more than YJB, smugly assuming that QdK’s average would also be comfortably higher. The joy that is Stasguru reveals that it’s a tad tighter than I expected: his average is 39.12 but at an eye-catching strike rate of 70.95!”
All this makes you realise how utterly ludicrous Gilchrist was: average 47.60, s/r 81.95. At one stage, after four years and 47 matches as a Test cricketer, he averaged 60 with a strike rate of 84.
44th over: England 144-4 (Crawley 74, Buttler 10) Crawley edges Abbas well short of first slip, another demonstration of a pretty slow pitch. The ball bounces through for a single, and then Buttler waves a quite majestic off drive for four.
Abbas doesn’t take kindly to such effrontery and almost dismisses Buttler with each of the next two deliveries. The first wobbled past the edge, the second was pinged just short of midwicket. Super cricket.
Updated
43rd over: England 139-4 (Crawley 73, Buttler 6) A quiet over from Yasir to Buttler, just a couple from it. Yasir’s dismissal of Ollie Pope a few overs ago was quite delicious.
Thanks Adam, hello everyone. As a Kentish Man, I join you with busy tear ducts, because Zak Crawley is 27 runs away from a maiden Test century. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, I think it would – would, not will, you hear me Fate - be the first Test hundred by a Kent batsman since Robert Key made all our my dreams come true on 22 July 2004. If I close my eyes I can see and smell the old Guardian Unlimited offices in Ray Street: Georgina Turner opposite, Nick Harper at two o’clock, Sean Ingle to my right. We were only kids then.
42nd over: England 137-4 (Crawley 73, Buttler 4) Abbas to Crawley, making him think about every delivery. Quality, probing seam. Crawley is up to the task when a rare bad ball does arrive, clipping through midwicket with superb timing. That moves him into the 70s as they head towards drinks. That’s my cue to hand over to Rob. Thanks for your company today, a lot of fun as always. If you aren’t completely sick of me yet, I’ll be on the Sky Cricket Debate after play this evening. Bye!
41st over: England 133-4 (Crawley 69, Buttler 4) Yasir gets another go at Crawley, who has played him so well today, and do so again here with a nice drive down the ground for one. Buttler’s turn and he’s off the mark in style, whacking him through midwicket for four. Yasir drags him forward to finish - that’s the length he needs.
I’m just about ready to pass over the baton to Rob at drinks, to the last word on weighted averages (is that what we’re calling it?) goes to the man who started this classic OBO discussion thread, Tim Bradley: “I was, of course, being slightly cheeky picking the example I did. Both Cook and Pietersen were great in their own way and both did very different jobs for the team. I thought Alistair Cook was wonderful, but if you had a team of Cooks, the spectators would be praying for bad light so they had something to get excited about. On the other hand, a team full of Pietersens might not have made it until lunch without falling out.” Well summed up.
40th over: England 128-4 (Crawley 68, Buttler 0) “You’ve got to play Yasir on the front foot,” insists Wasim Akram on telly when watching the Pope dismissal back. Positive captaincy from Azhar Ali to get Abbas straight back on after two quick wickets - he does his best work ripping through the middle order. He gets a one ball at the new man after Crawley inside edges out to fine leg. Buttler leaves.
With Buttler walking out at No6, a few quick emails replying to my earlier take...
“I thought the only proper side on Buttler was that he should be in for his batting, but his keeping is so bad he should take up leg spin.” That’s Bob O’Hara’s view. “We need a tricksy spinner so it’s either him or Jimmy, trying to extend his career.”
It’s best I don’t get too deeply into this again, it lands me in hot water!
“Hi again Adam.” And to you, Geoff Wignall. “I’m not quite clear on the law you mentioned, but if Buttler v Bairstow then Buttler; if Buttler v Foakes then both ( it might require a slight tweak to the playing regs, to make it a 12 a side game).”
One more on this from James Dark: “Bairstow’s batting average when keeping wicket is 38 despite his dip in runs over the past 2 years. Buttler’s is 28. Among current Test match keepers only Watling has a higher average than Bairstow. No one has a lower average than Buttler. That is all.”
WICKET! Pope b Yasir 127-4
Here comes Yasir! Pope is bowled through the gate, cramped on the crease without a lot of footwork. That’s the second time in a row the leggie has sorted him out. That’s a ripper of a delivery, jumping off the track with serious zip. Big moment!
39th over: England 127-4 (Crawley 67)
Updated
38th over: England 123-3 (Crawley 64, Pope 2) Ooh, that’s real pretty, Crawley standing tall and pushing Naseem down the ground; an on-drive for three. Pope is right on the top of his defensive posture before keeping the strike with a tuck.
“Another factor to throw into the mix of course is that for several years Cook was captain, which tends to shave points off the average,” Tom Booth wants thrown into the mix. “His average was actually higher while captain, but that might just be because those were his peak years, and his figures would have been even better had he remained in the ranks. Of course, putting aside spectacle for substance, I was never in any doubt about who the superior batsman was.” Speaking of which, see below. But as Nasser says on TV, there’s very little he could have done about that.
Joe Root in home Tests since the start of 2018:
— hypocaust (@_hypocaust) August 21, 2020
18 matches
Ave 33.93
1x100, 7x50#ENGvPAK
37th over: England 119-3 (Crawley 61, Pope 1) Ooh, Rizwan is nearly in the game again when Pope goes dancing, just getting the outside portion of his blade to the ball after failing to get to the pitch of the legbreak. A top over, mixing up his pace and not giving the youngster a chance to settle having just walked to the middle.
36th over: England 119-3 (Crawley 61, Pope 1) Did anyone tell Zac Crawley that Naseem just picked up the skipper with an absolute beauty? What a glorious cover drive in response, crashing into the rope in a barely a heartbeat. He’s well, well on his way to a maiden Test ton here and I won’t hear anything about commentators curses or whatever - this kid is looking the goods. Back him in, I say.
A very good ball.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 21, 2020
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/JVsNai1pz8 pic.twitter.com/6Av7Ik55oa
WICKET! Root c Rizwan b Naseem 29 (England 114-3)
Outstanding cricket, Pakistan! A beauty from Naseem, forcing Root to play a delivery that tails away. It’s a healthy edge, forcing Rizwan to dive to his right, gloving the catch like it isn’t a thing at all. He’s a brilliant wicketkeeper.
Updated
35th over: England 110-2 (Crawley 57, Root 25) Yasir is thrown the ball, so they’ve seen off Abbas for now. He’s attacking Crawley’s stumps as he did successfully against Sibley earlier but the No3 has quick hands and twice takes singles from straight deliveries. Root does as you would expect when on strike, twice picking out deep point for easy runs. Four from it, no risks - a healthy re-start against the leggie.
“Hi Adam.” G’day, Pete Salmon. “As someone who both opened the batting and played in the middle order for the Upwey under 16s in 1985, I feel I can give a unique insight into the problem. Opening I averaged 8.72, and in the middle order 10.33. I think the numbers speak for themselves.”
Great cricketing terrain! Not far from Glenn Maxwell’s home club at Belgrave South.
34th over: England 106-2 (Crawley 55, Root 23) Naseem to Root, the former now consistently getting it up at 90mph. He starts off by adopting Shaheen’s plan from before lunch by working on Root well outside the off stump before taking back to his stumps, the England captain up to the task. A maiden it is, his first of the day.
“Weighing back in on the discussion here and not wanting to sound boring,” says Will Lane, “but for a comparison between openers and middle order batsman you could look at balls faced+average for the former and strike rate + average for the latter? 100 balls and average of 40 for an opener is probably as good as S/R of 80 and an average of 45? Basically I have no idea of how you compare, I suppose we could just leave it at comparing batting averages but where’s the joy in that!”
John Starbuck on the Appeal-o-Meter: “The Local Magnitude Scale has replaced the Richter Scale, so we may as well use the latter for cricket since it’s now going spare.”
33rd over: England 106-2 (Crawley 55, Root 23) Crawley pushes Abbas to mid-on and they scamper through for one - good running is good batting. Root eases a single through midwicket later in the over. An important spell to see off, this.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Geoff Wignall. “So if openers deserve a virtual bonus of a couple of runs on their average, how many should batsmen/ keepers get? Stewart’s record suggests about a dozen but Sangakkara’s more like 26 - so the answer is probably ‘some’. I haven’t checked (aka can’t be arsed to) the in-running comparative numbers for Buttler and Bairstow.”
If it helps me keep Buttler in the XI, then loads. Buttler’s Test spot has officially entered the Great Culture War of late, so we all need to take a side - it’s the law.
32nd over: England 104-2 (Crawley 54, Root 22) Naseem feeds Root, outside off and cut away without a bother at all. He’s into the 20s. Getting a go at Crawley for the first time in a while, he’s not far at all from clipping his outside edge with a delivery he had to play at. It’s the bounce that makes him such a dangerous customer.
31st over: England 98-2 (Crawley 53, Root 17) Ooh, Naseem didn’t get that last ball through to Rizwan but Abbas certainly is, his first delivery here going past Crawley’s edge and flying through off the seam. He’s such a wonderful bowler; I love that our game - at the very top level - still has space for cagey operators him.
“Hi Adam.” Afternoon, Paul Lakin. “Now that we have a top three who seem (Burns recent outings excepted) capable of sticking around for a bit, I wondered what the received wisdom is on what success looks like for an opener. (Actually, if anyone knows what success looks like in general, I’d be interested to know...). I’m not thinking about runs scored, but in their role of “seeing off the new ball”. How many overs have to be delivered before that’s been achieved? Presumably around 20?”
We had a look at this before lunch. I would argue, in England, if the team is getting to the 90-minute mark and Joe Root isn’t yet in at No4, you’ve done pretty well.
30th over: England 98-2 (Crawley 53, Root 17) Naseem to Root: edge, four. Soft hands again - England have scored consistetly behind point so far today. But Naseem won’t be too bothered given he beat Root twice in the over, once on the back foot and the other playing from the crease without much footwork. The second of those didn’t actually make it to the gloves of Rizwan. Interesting.
“Let’s be honest,” writes Tom V d Gucht, “we’re not qualified to hold debate regarding who’s better between Cook and KP. We really ought to Tweet it and @ in Piers Morgan, ideally directly from the Guardian’s account, asking where he stands on the debate. Anyhow, none of it matters as Ian Bell was the greatest batsmen of our generation.” Anyone else play the re-booted Morgan View from the Boundary on TMS during lockdown? From 2006. I didn’t want to listen but couldn’t turn it off.
29th over: England 94-2 (Crawley 53, Root 13) Speaking of positive, that’s Root to begin, on the advance to Abbas’ first ball, driving three past cover point. Crawley is more watchful after the re-start, defending respectfully. Nothing wrong with that.
“Adam the subject of loudness of appeals begs the question should there be a method of assessing the decibel level of any given Owzat, similar to the way earthquakes and tremors are given a numerical value?” Kim Thonger is in good form today. “I believe the Richter Scale is logarithmic and a similar approach could deal with the most extreme examples. I’d suggest we call it the Wicketr Scale but people may mistake us all for seismologists with speech impediments.”
Technique is as important as volume. Since Nathan Lyon stopped apologetically asking the question and went full Dennis Lillee, he’s ben far more successful.
The players are back on the field. Crawley struck a boundary to move to his half-century as the players went to lunch, so it is Root (10) on strike to Abbas. PLAY!
“If you are talking about the job of opening as worthy of a few more runs on the opener’s average, how does that compare to opening the bowling?” asks Paul Haynes. “Surely this is a zero-sum game, so it must be a little easier to get wickets first crack at the openers, often in optimal conditions (new ball, damp mornings, two fresh players on 0, and then often against a number 3 under immediate pressure) this is even before mentioning that opening bowlers are often brought back to finish the tail off. How many should be added to their average?”
“The Wisden article you mentioned earlier has this quote from Alec Stewart. It seems that there sometimes is an advantage to opening,” says Richard O’Hagan.
‘I was probably at a slight advantage opening the batting against them. They were hard to face with the new ball, but at least it was just conventional swing, and you could get yourself in by the time the ball started to reverse. I probably had 25 or 30 on the board by the time it started to go, whereas everyone else came in with the ball already reversing.’
I recall Bill Lawry’s view on this, which is, as an opening bat, you are on an even playing field with the bowler. A nice, positive attitude from the Phantom.
@collinsadam In the last 10 years, openers everywhere average 34.8. Number 3 averages 39.5, and numbers 4-5 41.1.
— Ned Harrison (@NedmundHarrison) August 21, 2020
That seems like enough of a difference to say we should have lower expectations on openers' averages. Especially if they can eat up some overs in getting 30-odd.
“Given the conditions I think England have had the best of it this morning,” says Charles Sheldrick, who keeps an eye on the weather radar for us on the OBO. “More play that I expected, how is the weather looking for the afternoon.” Don’t jinx it!
“Hi there.” Hello, Nabeel Younas. “Regarding the Yasir lbw shout, he and the Pakistan players went up in an almighty appeal, almost pleading with the umpire to give the wicket. Shouldn’t an lbw shout be given (or not) merely on the merit of the ball, as opposed to how loud or animated the appeal is? Sometimes it’s said that a quiet appeal indicates it’s less likely to be out. Surely a simple, quiet “how is that umpire” should suffice as an appeal...”
Of course, but there’s something about the theatre of the appeal, isn’t there? Also, if spinners appeal too often, it can work against them too - many well-documented instances of umpires putting their fingers away out of frustration.
“Comparison is difficult,” says Sean Cunningham, “apple and oranges you might say. “How many times did Piertersen come in with the direction to score fast or get out trying, how many times did Cook score at less than one an over to see off the new ball, how many.......... never mind of course Cook was a better batsman!”
Good point players down the list being asked to give it a whack. On the other hand, cheap third-innings declaration runs inflate those numbers when it suits.
“Afternoon Adam.” And to you, Kim Thonger. “I’m enjoying the debate about batting averages and how they relate to position in the batting order. I’m fairly confident an algorithm can be designed to produce a ‘Weighted Average Numeric Kinetic Entry Ratio’ and I wonder if any OBOers might be able to think of a suitable acronym as it’s a bit of a mouthful?”
Very good, Kim.
“I’m not sure that life as an opener is much harder than it the middle order,” adds Steve Hudson. “Although it does have different challenges. Openers face a new ball and fresh bowlers, but on the other hand they have more time to play at their own pace, whereas the middle order will often be expected to impose themselves on the game, and will generally be more likely to bat later in the game when the pitch has deteriorated. The fact that for both openers and middle order batsmen, an average of 50 means a world class player shows that they similarly difficult.”
News from Australia: Cameron White has retired from all cricket. A fine player.
Cameron White was a great cricketer for Victoria. An influence almost as big as his shoulders.
— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) August 21, 2020
He was still a kid when they became the bushrangers, and played long enough to see the name shelved. Hope he gets into coaching, think he’ll be an interesting thinker on the game.
“I reckon there’s swings and roundabouts at play here,” writes Tom Brain in reply to Tim Bradley’s question. “Opening is undoubtedly difficult because the new ball tends to swing more, but it also tends to come off the bat quicker and the fields tend to be more attacking so there are more opportunities to score off the bad balls (and the edges) when they come. Also, the first twenty overs of an innings (at least in England) tend to be the preserve of the seamers so the openers are arguably facing less variety in the bowling than middle order players, who will often face spin from one end at the start of their innings, and when they do face spin the opening batsman will already have his eye in. All of which is to say, I don’t think it’s as simple as adding a run premium to an opener’s career average to get a ‘fair’ comparison.” You’re probably right - pretty reductive. Fun, though!
“Another vanity review from an England opener,” says Graham Samuel-Gibbon of Sibley’s demise. “Is it just me, or is this becoming and increasing trend, just as Stuart Broad seems to have grown out of his grumpy auto-reviews?”
It’s the third review - I’m sure of it. A lot of good has come of how we’ve been forced to think about the game during the biobubble, but let’s junk this ASAP.
Oh, and if looking for some lunchtime listening as we wait for the players to return:
New Final Word! #Dhoni with Bharat, sensible (?) chat on bad light and an achievement unlocked for my baby girl. Also, a trip back to 1894. Swing by - 🎧 https://t.co/eZ3JL3nRSs pic.twitter.com/Q51ekUyWFK
— Adam Collins (@collinsadam) August 19, 2020
England’s session. Two wickets before lunch is better than the going rate in this country against the Dukes ball. Sure, Burns will be disappointed to fall in the cordon again and Sibley was going well when trapped half an hour before the interval, but Crawley made sure the hosts would walk off the happier of the two teams. He’s batted quite wonderfully, out of the blocks in a hurry, racing to 45 from 45 balls. That it took him a subsequent 35 deliveries to make his next eight runs matters little - he’s still there and well placed to now enjoy the best of the day after lunch. Speaking of, I’m going to grab something to eat, back with you shortly.
A gorgeous shot to bring up your half-century on the last ball before lunch! 👏
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 21, 2020
Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/JVsNai1pz8#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/NEEKpSDqFW
LUNCH: England 91-2
28th over: England 91-2 (Crawley 53, Root 10) Fine bowling, Shaheen going past Crawley’s edge for a second time, on this occasion probing at a ball closer to his stumps. Three to go to get to the break. He leaves the first. Will the left-armer being one back at the stumps or stay the course with the final two balls? It’s the latter; another on the fifth stump line. Last ball of the session, extra cover moving into third slip. Will he have a pop? He does, and does so beautifully, Crawley driving expertly through extra cover to bring up his half-century then walking off for lunch. He offers a smile when greeting his skipper, to the mark in 80 balls.
Updated
27th over: England 87-2 (Crawley 49, Root 10) England’s first runs for 22 deliveries, Root working Yasir’s final ball behind square for a couple. Another good over from the spinner, who has bounced back admirably after battling across four expensive overs at the start of his spell. Back to Shaheen v Crawley to finish the session.
“Opening is the hardest job (along with three) in all nations and in England it’s particularly hard,” tweets James Austin in response to Tim Bradley’s poser. “Worth two extra on the average in all conditions and probably five in Eng. So Cook’s ‘real’ average, given he played half his games abroad, is about 48.5 rather than 45?”
26th over: England 85-2 (Crawley 49, Root 8) Fantastic discipline from both young men, Shaheen continuing to angle across Crawley, the No3 - one short of his half-century - content leaving him alone. Ah! But there’s the win for Shaheen, Crawley throwing the kitchen sink at a drive, his edge beaten. He’s back to leaving the final ball, right over the top of his off-stump. Quality Test cricket; back to back maidens.
25th over: England 85-2 (Crawley 49, Root 8) Yasir keeps Root quiet for the first maiden of the morning. That in itself tells a story about Pakistan’s opening session.
“Getting real Micheal Vaughan vibes from Zak Crawley,” Gareth Wilson tweets to me, “He looks a player, doesn’t he? Here to stay.”
I can definitely see that. The other similarity is how he was selected with modest First Class numbers, backed on talent and given a chance rather than worrying too much about what happens with him at Kent. As with all things cricket (before I’m yelled at for diminishing the county championship - I’m not!), there needs to be a balance between these approaches, and that’s why we have selectors.
24th over: England 85-2 (Crawley 49, Root 8) Shaheen is brought back into the attack, this time with the wind. He finds his channel right away at Crawley, angling across the young gun, who has the patience to shoulder arms throughout. Love it.
It is widely accepted that opening the batting is difficult and particularly so in England,” begins Tim Bradley. “Openers from all three teams have struggled at times this summer. With that in mind, how many runs should be added to the average of an opening batter to make a fair comparison to a middle order player? To choose a totally random and non-controversial example, Alistair Cook averaged around 45 over the course of his England career, whereas Kevin Pietersen was around 47. However, Cook opened the batting for his entire time, whilst Pietersen got his runs coming in at 4 or 5. Does this mean Cook is actually better?”
Rarely have I seen a topic so well suited to an OBO debate. Give it your best!
23rd over: England 84-2 (Crawley 49, Root 7) Crawley takes one to cover early in the over, Root does likewise to finish and retain the strike. Four overs until sandwiches.
22nd over: England 82-2 (Crawley 48, Root 6) Root’s busy, pushing Naseem for a couple into the gap at cover. The young quick bounces back with one that takes off, not too dissimilar to the delivery that sorted out Pope at Manchester a couple of weeks ago. A lot to like here. He finds a genuine edge later in the over off the England captain but it doesn’t make it to the catcher at third slip.
“With Sibley gone, we’re still waiting for an opener to make it to three centuries this century.” A niche one from Tom V d Gucht, but I like it. “Outside of the big guns, Vaughan, Trescothick, Strauss, Cook etc) have any openers managed it? There’s been loads of players tried and jettisoned with one century to their name: Robson, Lyth etc. Some who managed none, like Roy, and some who managed two like Compton and Jennings. But I can’t think of any players who managed three. Will Sibley and / or Burns manage to buck this trend?”
Updated
21st over: England 78-2 (Crawley 47, Root 3) Yasir has found his length to Crawley, making him come forward rather than letting him step back and dictate terms. In turn, just a couple of singles down to long-off. He’ll be fine with that.
“Is it ever worth reviewing one of this guy’s decisions?” Richard O’Hagan says of Michael Gough. “Can anyone recall him having one overturned?”
In his first this this summer, at Old Trafford when England were playing the West Indies, an amazing stat flashed up that the previous time he had a decision overturned was in 2016. So, on that basis, your rule of thumb is sound.
“Wondering at what point in his innings you think Sibley has ‘done his job’?” asks William Lane. “It feels as though the general feeling among OBOers is that his job is to soak up deliveries, which is (delete as appropriate) as important/almost as important/more important than scoring big runs. He’s not going to score 100 off 400 balls every innings obviously, so is a Sibley innings a success if he makes it through the first session and gets in to the 20s?”
In England, the toughest place in the world to open the innings (getting tougher by the year), getting through 90 minutes on morning one probably does tick that box?
This jumped out at me on twitter. One for the lunch break from Wisden Towers.
92 was the year I got what cricket could be: wild, naughty, a bit dark, chaotically unpredictable and full of tetchy lunatics locked in a kind of weirdly poisonous intimacy. And Gower never played again, but I’m working through it#ENGvPAKhttps://t.co/jxyHaGnGM6
— Phil Walker (@Phil_Wisden) August 21, 2020
20th over: England 76-2 (Crawley 46, Root 2) Ooh, that’s more like it! With a wicket up the other end, the young man Naseem is getting some serious zip, Crawley’s outside edge beating for the first time. Athers notes on the telly that the sawdust, brought out in the middle of the over, is actually popped into the marks made by Abbas earlier in the morning so Naseem’s feet are missing it. Cricket, I love it.
“Morning Adam.” Afternoon, Doug Roberts. “I’m sure I’m not the only one delighted to see the return of the traditional boundary rope. Those triangular advertising covers are one of my cricketing pet hates. They make the boundary look like a children’s play area. How do we go about having them banned permanently?”
Without being too cynical, surely the reason the ropes are naked again is because the ECB don’t have a sponsor for the boundary in this series. The triangles will return when advertising budgets get back to normal over the next summer or two.
19th over: England 74-2 (Crawley 45, Root 1) Michael Holding is into the commentary box, good timing given how he detests how batsmen are treated by DRS - will he fire up? Meanwhile, Root is off the mark first ball, punching out to cover. A lot of love for Michael Gough from both Mikey and Athers given his remarkable record at getting decisions correct on the field. He’s in great form.
“I think the reason for minimum over rates is sporting rather than commercial/viewer led,” says Hugh Molloy. “It attempts to stop teams being able to slow play down to gain an advantage in certain circumstances, ie play for a draw.
I’d just add 5 runs on as extras for every over that’s not played in an hour and still try and play the over in the days play. That would stop it.”
It’s interesting that the problem doesn’t really persist in short-form cricket anymore due to these type of penalities. Might work. The captain can no longer be suspended after Jason Holder had to miss a Test against England last year.
Pakistan take their second wicket to break a good partnership between Sibley and Crawley.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 21, 2020
Scorecard & Clips: https://t.co/JVsNai1pz8#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/6uuu2kV94l
WICKET! Sibley lbw b Yasir 22 (England 73-2)
What a brilliant decision, giving Sibley out on the field despite the fact that he was down the track by a yard when contact was made. But ball-tracking showed it was the delivery spinning straight on, crashing into off-stump. Pakistan needed that.
Updated
IS SIBLEY LBW TO YASIR? The leggie has won an affirmative decision from Michael Gough! The opener sends it upstairs for a second look. Stand by.
18th over: England 73-1 (Sibley 22, Crawley 45) Zac Crawley is batting beautifully here, into the 40s with a lovely steer through third man then hammering Naseem through midwicket with a cracking pull-shot. He had to adjust in his stance with the delivery not getting up as high as he would have anticipated but adjust he did, timing the pants off it. He’s rocking along at a run a ball, doing everything right.
“As far as I can remember,” reports Steve Hudson, “the 8 ball over was always uncommon - used only in Australia and I think for a while in the subcontinent. So when in the late 70s they were trying to standardise the playing conditions, it seemed best to move to 6 ball overs. And that had additional merit in that 8 balls for a fast bowler, in hot conditions, is a very hard task.” Thanks!
17th over: England 65-1 (Sibley 22, Crawley 37) As Andrew Strauss notes on telly, this is a great time to face a leggie before there are any footmarks with the wind blowing a gale. One, two, three singles are plucked off here; Yasir has given up 21 runs in four overs so far. Crawley is looking to leave an early mark on the spinner.
16th over: England 62-1 (Sibley 21, Crawley 35) Free runs for Crawley, helping a ropey legside delivery from Naseem down to the rope. He’s already into the 30s - fine batting. Three more runs later in the over when driving past mid-off. The pressure is already transferred back onto Azhar Ali and the Pakistan bowlers.
“It’s excellent parenting,” agrees Damien Clarke on my... pinching my daughter’s food while she sits with me OBOing? It doesn’t sound like good parenting now I am summing it up like this. Back to Damian: “A good example of letting the offspring know that what she’s eating is good. Bad parenting was probably sending my kids to fetch my beer from the fridge as soon as they could reach the handle.”
15th over: England 55-1 (Sibley 21, Crawley 28) Sibley moves into the 20s with a tuck through midwicket when Yasir is too full, turning him around the corner for a couple more to finish. Between times, the young pair exchanged singles on the posh side. This stand is showing the early signs of an important day for both players.
“Hi Adam.” Toby Blake, yo. “Am I the only person that doesn’t particularly care about over rates? It really seems to enrage some people, but I don’t feel particularly short-changed if I miss out on 6 or 12 balls in an hour. It’s the quality that counts - in the same way that a good 35 minute album is better than a padded 60 minute one. And don’t get me started on 3 hour films either. One of the joys of test cricket is the gaps, allowing my limited mind to wander aimlessly.”
You’re definitely not the only one to put this view - a number of my colleagues from the CricViz factory push it on twitter whenever the debate flares up. But the simple way I see it is they can get the job done in First Class cricket (I’ve seldom seen a day where they don’t get the overs in), so it should be done at Test level as well.
14th over: England 49-1 (Sibley 15, Crawley 27) Naseem Shah takes over from Abbas with the wind from the pavilion end. Let’s go, young man, bowl fast. He’s at 88mph by the end of this first set, for the most part dealt with defensively by Sibley.
“Leave it out,” insists Andrew Thomas in relation to my N-Trance proclamation as the players continue to enjoy a glass of cordial. “Not a patch on the Mountain of Love track.” In it goes. Tilo Fobes is in on this topic too: “I recently listened to a radio show by Aussie DJ CC Disco who played a slowed down version of a Vengaboys banger to turn it into a balearic core shaker. With your love for the Vengaboys it made me think of you. Sadly only normal tempo available.”
Tilo is referring to this, from the Coffs Harbour Big Banana during the Women’s Ashes of 2017. The Vengaboys pushed it out on their social channels, bless them.
13th over: England 48-1 (Sibley 15, Crawley 27) England complete a very good first hour after winning the toss and batting, punctuated by Crawley’s third boundary, carving Yasir off the back foot. The leggie is giving a lot of width. Drinks!
12th over: England 42-1 (Sibley 14, Crawley 22) What I like about Crawley is that he’s always scoring, this time finishing Abbas’ over with a couple with soft hands past gully then a single in front of the square leg umpire - he’s very good off the pads.
“In terms of product delivery,” says Ian Copestake, “Burns has failed to action the plan given the toss was won and batting long the goal. It looks like that for this opener a come to Jesus moment this way approaches.” I feel for Burns to get to Australia in 15 months, he’s going to have to play very well. Just my gut feeling.
Cauliflower and sweet corn (all mushed up) is the on the menu next to me. If I reach over and take a spoonful, is that good parenting? I suspect that’s how this plays out.
11th over: England 39-1 (Sibley 14, Crawley 19) Yasir! My guy! Sibley plays him well to begin, grabbing a couple to midwicket then cutting from deep in the crease to give the strike to Crawley. The young man does the same thing, shifting back to cut and doing it well, adding two more. “I know I’m probably biassed Athers but it is bloody exciting to see a legspinner bowl,” says Warne. On this, Shane, we agree.
“Morning Adam, Hope you are well.” And to you, Stephen Brown. My baby girl has pulled up next to me at the kitchen table to be have her lunch, so I couldn’t be better. “I’m too young to remember the switch from 8 ball overs to 6 ball overs, maybe some of your readers can remember those days and can enlighten us as to the reason for the switch. My question (if this idea has already been discussed and discarded then apologies); if we moved back to 8 ball overs, would that increase the number of balls bowled by removing the change between overs and thus help with the over rate issue?”
This is the sort of information I have stored away, but I don’t. I trust Gary Naylor is reading on - he’ll have that close to hand. Gaz, help us out? Thanks.
Updated
10th over: England 33-1 (Sibley 11, Crawley 16) Sibley deals with Abbas with soft hands again - it’s a winning strategy so far, off stump with a deflection. Crawley moves to 16 from as many balls with a couple more down to long leg after walking down the track at Abbas in an effort to throw him off his length. He drags it back a tad and beats the inside edge in response, whacking him in the thigh pad.
9th over: England 30-1 (Sibley 10, Crawley 14) Shaheen v Crawley, we’re going to see this match-up over and over through the next ten years or so, aren’t we? The latter is scoring through midwicket again, albeit off an inside edge this time - the movement is still there back towards the right-handers. Oooh, but Shaheen has the other one too, angling across, left close to the off-stump. This is excellent. On telly, Shane Warne is far more interested in the shape of Shaheen Afridi’s hair.
How magnificent is the advert Sky Cricket keeps playing, set to a cover of the allllll-time N-Trace banger Set You Free? I listened to it 100 times last weekend.
Updated
8th over: England 28-1 (Sibley 10, Crawley 12) Abbas is a wonder. No real pace to speak of but keeps hitting that seam, beating Crawley with an absolute beauty - generous carry, too. The No3 does well to get off strike with a careful push to cover. Sibley’s turn to deal with the interrogation and gets through by leaving well.
“You mention when England play India in the UAE over the winter,” writes Neil Harris. “Has that been confirmed?” I don’t believe it has been confirmed but there have been a number of reports pointing to that as the logical and likely outcome.
“Following in Australia, and the AFL match (quarter time),” says Rocket - good to have you with us. “Perfect Symmetry! - England 10 runs, Pakistan 0 wickets - Carlton 10 points, Gold Coast 0 points.” Delightful. To be honest, I wish I was on the OBO at 7:30am tomorrow so I could avoid Port thumping us. Instead, I’ll watch.
Shane Warne is talking about Lionel Messi, Rowan Atkinson and hair product.
7th over: England 27-1 (Sibley 10, Crawley 11) Crawley keeps scoring off Shaheen, playing nicely again through midwicket for three to start the over. The big left-armer bounces back with a lovely offering angling across Sibley, beating his edge. But Sibley is scraping hard, doing the very job he’s there for on morning one.
“On the issue of Fawad/Shadab, it’s again a question of whether the latter is an all rounder or not?” asks Digvijay Yadav. “For me an all rounder is someone who can walk into the team on either skill set i.e. if he’s in the top six batsmen or top 5 bowlers. His secondary skill set is merely complementary. Shadab might become one in due course but I think Fawad is the right choice for the time being.”
Sure, in theory. But in practice, most all-rounders are a mix-and-match; the decision taken that the sum-of-their-parts warrants selection. See Curran, S. On everything I’ve seen from Shadab, he’s a fantastic option with ball and bat. Not to mention the fact that he’s a gun fielder and possibly even the next captain.
6th over: England 24-1 (Sibley 10, Crawley 8) Abbas gives Sibley another chance to whip him early in the over, England scoring overwhelmingly in boundaries in this first half an hour. But he’s brilliant thereafter, beating the outside edge - whacking into the right-handers’s back thigh pad - then beating it again for good measure.
“Hello Adam.” Hi, Pete McGivney. “Looking at the teams, it struck me that Archer’s reputation with the bat is out of step with his average. At the moment there is a case for Broad or even Anderson to be above him. Whilst Jimmy may not score too many, he can stick around whereas Broad is looking sharper with the bat and may be encouraged by being moved up the order. Cue ducks for the pair of them. Oddly, I seem happier with Archer’s bowling. He is still new to Test cricket and is trying to suit his bowling to what is needed. He does not need to be flat out all of the time and there is a balance between how much he bowls and how fast he can be. With the two oldies opening the bowling and no Stokes, he will need to keep something back as he may be required to bowl longish spells.”
Archer’s batting is going to prompt a 10,000-word long-read at some stage. He can seriously play, has shown that in T20 cricket, but can’t buy a run as a Test player.
5th over: England 20-1 (Sibley 6, Crawley 8) A perfectly timed clip from Crawley to get off the mark with a boundary first ball. Yes, please. Ooh, Shaheen is right back on it next up, the No3 leaving very closely to his off stump - ooohs and aaahs all round. Four more to finish! Shaheen went for the yorker, squeezed out to third man beyond the cordon. “A fantastic battle already,” says Nasser Hussain. Top cricket.
“Dear Adam.” Hi, Ben Eastham. “Is it only me that is irritated by Root’s implication, with all this “he’s been told to bowl 90mph+”, that Archer isn’t trying hard enough? Even besides the fact that he seems to bowl faster towards the end of long spells, and is a much more skilful bowler than his captain seems willing to acknowledge, how is calling him out to the press supposed to help? Pet peeve. From Athens, where I’m not writing the thing I’m here to be writing, in large part because of your excellent work on the OBO, to which I’m addicted. Keep up the great work!”
Thanks for the kind note, happy writing! As for Root, I perhaps didn’t give the right context around his comment earlier - it was a reply to a direct question about what his instruction to Archer would be last week. Remember, of course, that Jofra said himself during the First Test that he didn’t think it was the right track to bowl full-tilt on. Root is definitely getting better at looking at looking after his big quick.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Nick Parish. “I’m about 50 miles from the ground and the wind is howling like a pack of Twitterati whenever Jos Buttler drops a catch. As someone who prefers watching to playing cricket, what effect does that have on the game? Does it create more uncertainty for the batsmen or the bowlers?”
In my experience, it’s far worse for the fielding team, especially the fast bowlers who, who are relying on rhythm to land it consistently over after over. At Manchester last year on that first day (an extreme example) England put in their worst performance with the ball for the entire series. A great toss to win, that.
WICKET!
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 21, 2020
England lose Burns (6) early, well caught by Masood at third slip - confirmed after an umpire review to just check the ball carried.
England 12-1 🏴🇵🇰 #ENGvPAK
📺 Watch #ENGvPAK live 👉 https://t.co/D3EtetFIZ3
📱 Blog 👉 https://t.co/KY23e4PqD1 pic.twitter.com/zMTLtrHAle
WICKET! Burns c Masood b Shaheen 6 (England 12-1)
Fantastic technique, Masood’s fingers on the ground, the ball landing in the palm of his hand, confirmed accordingly by third umpire Richard Kettleborough. Another disappointing end for Burns, who has had a tough time of it against Shaheen.
Updated
HAS BURNS BEEN CAUGHT IN THE GULLY? Shaheen has found the edge; the soft signal is OUT. They are going upstairs to see if it is a clean catch. Stand by!
4th over: England 11-0 (Burns 6, Sibley 5) Abbas squares Sibley up to begin - that’s his channel, looking to go beyond the inside edge. He’s better on the back foot, using soft hands, then keeps the strike with a tidy clip to long leg to finish. Solid.
“Hi Adam.” G’day, Graeme Thorn. “I did email this tongue-in-cheek suggestion to your colleague Vithushan Ehantharajah about slow over rates, but now seems the
perfect opportunity for the ICC and match referees to embrace “flexibility” and force players back in for a sixth day to make up for the overs they didn’t bowl.”
No complaints from this freelancer! Timeless Tests, let’s have ‘em back.
“Morning Adam!” And to you, Pete Salmon. “Looking forward to some actual cricket! It is just me or does the phrase ‘Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson will leave the bio-secure bubble’ feel like the end of a sci-fi movie - like when the old people ascend to the spaceship in the inflatable raft at the end of Cocoon? Will they pass through a semi-permeable membrane back into the world, covered in amniotic fluid? Can they simply move among us, these men from the bubble? And will they remember anything?”
I wonder if Foakes will come out with teeth even whiter than before? As for Robinson, I’ll be able to report back directly from Radlett tomorrow.
3rd over: England 10-0 (Burns 6, Sibley 4) Shaheen is angling across Sibley them bringing it back - that’s the way to set up the pins. When he gets bat to ball it is well placed past cover, earning a single. Burns’ turn, who is able to leave the last couple.
“Morning Adam.” And to you, Richard Dennis. “Hope you are excellent on this fine morn!” I am. I had a net last night and hit some balls a very long way. I’m sore this morning but it was worth it. “Zak Crawley’s first class average is 30.82, discuss.”
Long story short, he’s proof that it is right to pick teams using more than spreadsheets alone. Everything I’ve seen of Crawley screams Test Cricketer.
By the way, on emails, the usual rule applies for the first morning of a Test: there are too many to read, let alone include. Please don’t take offence - it’s pot luck. As a rule, the inbox settles down after lunch as we get into a rhythm. That’s not to discourage you writing, by the way... just don’t yell at me if I miss your missive.
2nd over: England 9-0 (Burns 6, Sibley 3) Ooh, Abbas beating the bat first ball; you love to see it - that nibble, those oohs and aahs from behind the wicket. Sibley keeps his shape to the second delivery though, clipping three off his pads. Burns gets a chance to do likewise, nabbing two more behind square. He’s back on the money by the end of the over, Burns forward watchfully in defence.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Charlie Jeffrey. “Hope you are well, it is a great delight to enjoy the OBO even when play doesn’t exist. I’m wondering what’s happening with Mark Wood? Okay, so England have options but the rotation that never was has not done for him particularly kindly. And everyone one loves MW. You can’t keep a player under wraps for ever hoping he will destroy Australia, he will end up broken on the first morning in Brisbane. Well that’s so far off in the future, who knows where the world will be by then.”
I’m sure it was the plan to use him two or three times this summer but they also would have expected Broad/Anderson/Woakes to need more rest. So yes, a strange and disappointing summer for him. But, as everyone has pointed to, he’ll be one of the first on the teamsheet when England play India in the UAE over the winter.
Updated
1st over: England 4-0 (Burns 4, Sibley 0) Lovely shape to begin, moving away from the left-hander in the air. Ball finds bat with the third ball, the outside portion of the blade but played with nice soft hands, deflected between fourth slip and gully. That’s nice batting. Shaheen goes straighter next up, hitting him on the pad, going up with half an appeal. The big quick might be bowling into the wind but he’s getting it through nicely to the gloves of Rizwan. Good start from both.
And here’s the overseas TMS link, Peter Haining once again helping us out by googling it so that I didn’t have to. You’re a good man, Peter.
The players are on the field. Rory Burns takes a long time to cross the rope, looking to the sky to adjust his eyes to the light. He’ll be on strike for the first ball of he Test, facing the thunderbolts of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Wasim Akram on telly says that he’s elected to bowl into the wind, from the Hotel End. Four slips; nice. PLAY!
“I know it is sacrilege to question Broad and Anderson,” begins Peter Norman, “and I’m not even against their selection, but I find the way they have lobbied in the media to be picked this summer a bit unedifying. It isnt political opponents they’re digging their sharpened elbows into, but teammates.”
I don’t share that view, but then again, I’m one of the journalists who benefits from them saying what they think when as ask them questions. My sense is that Jimmy wasn’t in or out before the second Test but he asked for faith. Wasn’t over the top.
“I feel like Dorothy out of the Wizard of Oz!” says Shane Warne of the wind, clicking his heels. There we go. Remember that day at Manchester to begin the Old Trafford Test last year? Wonder how it compares to the gale blowing out there today.
Chris Broad is in the diary room! The match ref explains that during the second Test, they were also frustrated by what they could and could not do. “We have come up with a more flexible system so that if we lose time, we can play the additional time before the play is scheduled to start or after it is scheduled to finish, depending on the weather forecast.” So, the plan is for the ICC team to come together with the ECB and the ground staff and work out when the match would start the following day, be it 10:30am or 11am. Better than nothing.
On bad light, “it is a debate that needs to be had” about playing with the red ball under floodlights versus what is possible with the pink. “Clearly the grounds are different at Hampshire where they are light coloured seats where the ball is easier to see but at Manchester, there are a lot of red seats making it difficult to see.”
My OBO colleague Geoff Lemon and I had a long gallop on this topic during the week. The low hanging fruit is playing times, the (far tougher) structural reform is how the pink ball might be used. But in saying that, none of this is easy and absolutely none of it has to do with the players being soft or lazy or any of that.
“There is some flexibility” around meal times, Broad adds, noting that “maybe there needs to be more flexibility... that’s something for the future.” He notes that, with so much cricket likely to be cancelled during the winter, there’s a chance for them to do a fair bit of work on this behind the scenes. Very positive.
Lastly, Nasser asks about over rates, throwing a killer fact at him about 12.1 overs being bowled on average (I think he said) this summer. But he’s less effusive about finding a way through on this point, which is a touch disappointing.
Those teams as named
England: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson.
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah.
Updated
Azhar Ali says Pakistan would have batted had he won the toss. They have named the same side as last week. So, Fawad Alam keeps his spot ahead of Shadab Khan. I can’t quite believe Shadab isn’t getting a game in this team, but there we have it.
Joe Root has won the toss, England are batting first
The skipper says the wicket looks dry and wants to take advantage of that. He also notes the strong wind at the ground, which can make it tough for quicks. And as expected, Sam Curran misses out with Jofra Archer coming into the XI. “We want him to operate in short, sharp spells and we won’t him to bowl fast.”
Updated
The toss is coming up at 10:40am; they will still start at 11am as planned. A bit of flexibility there - the (welcome!) buzzword of the week. This is a nice touch:
Stuart Broad was presented with a framed silver stump before the toss today to commemorate him reaching 500 Test wickets earlier in the summer.#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/8IrwpBtyqg
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 21, 2020
The covers are on. You couldn’t make it up. As Sky comes on air, the captains are standing alongside the pitch as the shower moves in. The toss is delayed.
Very good from Rory. Toss coming up shortly. The word on the street (okay, what my mates at the ground are saying) is that Archer is in for Curran. We’ll see.
I’m not massive on irony but Colin Graves, who thinks smaller counties should sack off first-class cricket, making a presentation to a player who started his career at Leicestershire seems to fit the bill. pic.twitter.com/WwpYccmBev
— Rory Dollard (@thervd) August 21, 2020
More news from the bubble, via the ECB. “Ben Foakes and Ollie Robinson will leave the bio-secure bubble this morning and will be available to play in the Bob Willis Trophy tomorrow. Robinson will play for Sussex against Middlesex at Radlett. Foakes will be at the Kia Oval for Surrey against Kent.”
Sensible. Good news for Sussex as Robinson took 24 wickets in two games against Middlesex last season. As for Foakes, his first game since Stokes XI v Buttler XI!
A note in from the ECB about some presentations on the ground this morning. “Stuart Broad is to receive a framed silver stump commemorating taking 500 Test wickets. This will be presented to Broad by ECB chairman Colin Graves. England Test captain Joe Root will present Colin Graves with a framed signed shirt to mark the end of his tenure as chairman. Colin leaves his post at the end of the month. As a mark of respect to Dan Lawrence, the England players’ will wear black armbands today. Lawrence’s mother sadly passed away early this month.”
Colin Graves receiving a signed shirt before a Test? Ah... yeah, righto. Sure.
Updated
“Morning, Adam.” First email of the Test from Digvijay Yadav. “If the conditions are sketchy, then the team that needs to win has to bowl first. Bowl the other team cheaply, rack up a big innings lead and do them again. Simple. Only need about three days play for this to happen.”
Looking at the five-day forecast, there should be enough rain on Monday and Tuesday to nudge both captains that way. Get ten wickets as soon as possible then control as many of the variables as possible later in the match? Something like that.
Nice piece from Vic during the week at Jimmy and Stu, who will play together again in this decider. That wasn’t the plan six weeks ago but they’ve played it nicely.
I enjoyed Joe Root’s press conference yesterday. He’s really grown into that part of the job over the last twelve months or so, comfortable enough to speak his mind. I’m certain his observations about bad light after the Second Test have led to the flexibility built into this Third Test by the competing teams and the ICC. It’s nothing especially radical letting play start at 10:30am if time is lost the night before - that already happens in Australia, for instance - but progress is progress.
Preamble
Six Tests in seven weeks. When putting it that way, this hasn’t been such a bad way at all to spend the second half of the strangest summer. And back at Southampton we are today, for the third and final instalment of England versus Pakistan. The hosts lead the series one-nil after their impressive come-from-behind effort at Manchester first up. The less said about last week’s sodden draw the better.
The good news on that front is that it isn’t raining. The forecast is predicably sketchy, but there is no obvious reason why play won’t start 11am as scheduled (famous last words). When the captains walk out to toss in half an hour or so, all eyes will be on how England put their bowling line-up together. Given this is a fresh pitch, which has largely been prepared under covers, might they play four quicks?
As for Pakistan, their captain, Azhar Ali, is going to dance with the one who brung him as far as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah are concerned. On the available evidence, there’s no need for them to change anything up as far as that explosive young pair are concerned. Oh, and Mohammad Abbas? These could be the best conditions the probing medium-pacer ever plays in. Bowl first? Quite possibly.
Right, we have plenty to get through as always on the first morning so please drop me a line in the usual place, or on twitter if that’s more your style. G’morning!
